It is time for Zorba to start meditating, and it is time for the people who are meditators not to allow themselves to escape from the world... Only in completion is there bliss. Only in completion have you come home.
Osho

Sunday, 30 June 2013

The summer was extraordinary. It was a season of rebirth and innocence. A miracle. For fifteen patients and for us, the caretakers. But now we have to adjust to the realities of the miracles. We can hide behind the veil of science and say 'It was the drug that failed'. Or that the illness itself had returned, or that the patients were unable to cope, losing decades of their lives. The reality is - we don't know what went wrong any more than we know what went right. What we do know is that as the chemical window closed, another awakening took place. That the human spirit is more powerful than any drug and that is what needs to be nourished. With work, play, friendship, family. These are the things that matter. This is what we've forgotten. The simplest things.

Ever get the feeling that you have a higher call? You know...that you have a special purpose on this Earth. In fact, if you had the chance, you would surely save the world... Well, maybe not the world, but some small part of it. Volunteering abroad is one way to make a difference. Challenge yourself, test your patience and open your mind and heart. Come and join us in Nepal....

Nepal Friendship Society is a non-government and non-profit organization registered in Chitwan and Kathmandu. Our main aim is to bring awareness and help to the community to improve better life through volunteering. NFS provides the opportunity to work with the local community people of Nepal. Chitwan is famous for its wildlife animals, jungles and environment so volunteers can learn and research. Our mission is to provide affordable and safe volunteering programme in chitwan,Nepal.It is established with the link of International social volunteers. Nepal is a rich in culture and great volunteer opportunity to stay in a nepalese home as well as learn and share Nepali culture.Our programmes duration is a week (minimum) to six months(maximum).

Friday, 28 June 2013

Life is only full of beauties..You can see all these beauties if you have enough experience.. If not, that means you have to work a bit more -unless you get the reality of "you DO NOT see it by the eyes.." If not, that means you have to work a bit more -unless you get the point of "life is relative.."

Wednesday, 26 June 2013

Any time you are with anyone or think of anyone you must say to yourself: I am dying and this person too is dying, attempting the while to experience the truth of the words you are saying. If every one of you agrees to practise this, bitterness will die out, harmony will arise.

Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence. You know, all mystics -Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, no matter what their theology, no matter what their religion -- are unanimous on one thing: that all is well, all is well. Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to be sure. But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep. They are having a nightmare.

Last year on Spanish television I heard a story about this gentleman who knocks on his son's door. "Jaime," he says, "wake up!" Jaime answers, "I don't want to get up, Papa." The father shouts, "Get up, you have to go to school." Jaime says, "I don't want to go to school." "Why not?" asks the father. "Three reasons," says Jaime. "First, because it's so dull; second, the kids tease me; and third, I hate school." And the father says, "Well, I am going to give you three reasons why you must go to school. First, because it is your duty; second, because you are forty-five years old, and third, because you are the headmaster." Wake up, wake up! You've grown up. You're too big to be asleep. Wake up! Stop playing with your toys.

Most people tell you they want to get out of kindergarten, but don't believe them. Don't believe them! All they want you to do is to mend their broken toys. "Give me back my wife. Give me back my job. Give me back my money. Give me back my reputation, my success." This is what they want; they want their toys replaced. That's all. Even the best psychologist will tell you that, that people don't really want to be cured. What they want is relief; a cure is painful.

Waking up is unpleasant, you know. You are nice and comfortable in bed. It's irritating to be woken up. That's the reason the wise guru will not attempt to wake people up. I hope I'm going to be wise here and make no attempt whatsoever to wake you up if you are asleep. It is really none of my business, even though I say to you at times, "Wake up!" My business is to do my thing, to dance my dance. If you profit from it, fine; if you don't, too bad! As the Arabs say, "The nature of rain is the same, but it makes thorns grow in the marshes and flowers in the gardens."

Tuesday, 25 June 2013

Rest does not come with sleeping, it comes with waking. This is both an insight and an action of enlightenment. When we are enlightened we realise that real rest is possible only when we become free of illusion and we no longer struggle against life. Illusion is the idea that people should be, and do, what we want them to. The truth is, all is as it should be, despite appearances, or our perceptions of others to the contrary. This means you can be easy on yourself, easy with others and easy with the world around you. Easiness is a virtue, an attractive one at that. It is much more influential than force. So quit forcing, end the struggling and...relax!

It is the most beautiful moment in one´s life when there is neither confusion nor certainty. One simply is — a mirror reflecting that which is. With no direction to go anywhere, with no idea of doing something, with no future — just utterly in the moment, tremendously in the moment.

It's a great idea in sport. Too many fouls and your out of the game for a short period. The same happens in real life, but we are not aware of it. Sin essentially means forgetfulness, or more specifically, to forget yourself, to forget who you truly are, a pure, peaceful and loving spiritual being who occupies and animates a physical form. It is this forgetfulness that makes us commit what we call sinful action. If you are insulted by another person, and you become angry in response, the sin is the anger which you create not the insult. You are asleep to the truth that you just hurt yourself, and that you are the creator of your anger not the other person. And now you have a recording in your consciousness that contains an image of the other surrounded by the energy of anger. You put it there, not them. Next time you see them, up comes the anger again, and in that moment you are at your least effective, paralysed by self created anger, you are effectively out of the game until you cool down. Interesting isn't it. Never get angry, at anything, or anyone, anytime. It's a sin!

Be thankful for your frustrations, because they can solidly connect you to your passions. Be thankful for your frustrations, and let them motivate you to do something useful and positive.

Instead of obsessing over the frustrations, focus on the good things in your life that make those frustrations possible. Instead of letting the frustrations get you down, let them push you toward taking thoughtful, beneficial action.

Rather than resenting or fighting against the frustrations, feel them and learn from them. There is a reason why they have come to your awareness, so find the positive possibilities in that reason.

Many times, your frustrations can point you clearly and compellingly toward changes that will greatly benefit your life and your world. Often, your frustrations can help you to better understand what you truly care about.

Frustration is so much more than just an undesirable feeling. Frustration can be a valuable assistant in moving your life forward.

Instead of letting your frustrations get you down or make you angry, put them to work for you. Let those frustrations lead you to where you truly want to go.

You can drop the word God — life is God. Live with reverence, with great respect...gratitude. You have not earned the life, it has been a sheer gift from the beyond. Feel thankful and prayerful, and take as many bites of it as possible and chew well and digest well.

Friday, 21 June 2013

You are in the right place at the right time. The place is here, and the time is now.

This is the place where you can learn, grow, act and achieve. This is the time when you can work to fulfill your best possibilities.

Fortune is smiling on you right here, right now. Because you now have the ability to make a difference, and by doing so you can bring beautiful and fulfilling things to life.

Let go of any anger or resentment that keeps you mired in the past, for the past is over. Let go of any empty wishes or fears about what might or might not happen someday, because someday is not a real time.

Now is the time that is real and the time that is yours, and with it you can do whatever you choose. Now is when you have immense power over the direction of your life, so use that power wisely and joyfully.

This is the right time and the right place to live, to experience, to express and to fulfill the unique possibilities of your precious life. This is the right time and the right place, so live it with all you have.

Thursday, 20 June 2013

Change Your Focus To the Gaps

Buddha used to say that when a thought arises, note down that a thought is arising. Just inside, note it: now a thought is arising, now a thought has arisen, now a thought is disappearing. Just remember that now the thought is arising, now the thought has arisen, now the thought is disappearing, so that you don't get identified with it.

It is very beautiful and very simple. A desire arises. You are walking on the road; a beautiful car passes by. You look at it ― and you have not even looked and the desire to possess it arises. Do it. In the beginning just verbalize; just say slowly, “I have seen a car. It is beautiful. Now a desire has arisen to possess it.” Just verbalize.

In the beginning it is good; if you can say it loudly, it is very good. Say loudly, ‘I am just noting that a car has passed, the mind has said it is beautiful, and now desire has arisen and I must possess this car.’ Verbalize everything, speak loudly to yourself and immediately you will feel that you are different from it. Note it.

When you have become efficient in noting, there is no need to say it loudly. Just inside, note that a desire has arisen. A beautiful woman passes; the desire has come in. Just note it ― as if you are not concerned, you are just noting the fact that is happening ― and then suddenly you will be out of it.

Buddha says, “Note down whatsoever happens. Just go on noting, and when it disappears, again note that now that desire has disappeared, and you will feel a distance from the desire, from the thought.”

And if you can consider that a desire has arisen and a desire has gone and you have remained in the gap and the desire has not disturbed you.... It came, it went. It was there, and it is now not there, and you have remained unperturbed, you have remained as you were before it. There has been no change in you. It came and it passed like a shadow. It has not touched you; you remain unscarred.

Consider this movement of desire and movement of thought but no movement in you. Consider and dissolve in the beauty. And that interval is beautiful. Dissolve in that interval. Fall in the gap and be the gap. It is the deepest experience of beauty. And not only of beauty, but of good and of truth also. In the gap you are.

Loneliness is absence of the other. Aloneness is the presence of oneself. Aloneness is very positive. It is a presence, overflowing presence. You are so full of presence that you can fill the whole universe with your presence and there is no need for anybody.

You don’t have as much time as you’d like to have. But instead of resenting that situation, or getting frustrated or despondent about it, make good, positive use of the time that’s available.

The circumstances may indeed be difficult and challenging, but that’s no reason to make them even more so. Instead of fighting against the difficulties, embrace your own ability to move positively through them.

It’s easy to feel sorry for yourself, but that doesn’t really get you anywhere you’d like to go. With the exact same amount of thought energy, you can feel happy for yourself, and thankful for the very real positive possibilities that are yours.

There are all sorts of distractions, excuses, interruptions, and other people to blame for your lack of progress. Even so, you can make the commitment to make real, meaningful progress no matter what, and then successfully follow through on it.

There’s plenty of negativity in the world, and there’s nothing to be gained by adding to it or wallowing in it. You can just as easily choose a more positive, powerful, productive path.

It all depends on the way you see it and the way you live it. Be happy for yourself, for all the good you can do, and then spread your positive energy far and wide.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

“Reality is so much bigger than what we can comprehend. The only way to understand reality is to make sure that we understand the laws that create reality so that we are in harmony with those laws rather than fighting against them. This entails accepting everything as it is and accepting that it is perfection in itself."

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

The most terrible thing that has happened to people today is that they have grown frightened of silence. Instead of seeking it as a friend and as a source of renewal they now try in every way they can to shut it out... the fear of silence is the fear of loneliness, he says, and the fear of loneliness is the fear of silence. People fear silence, he says, because they have lost the ability to trust the world to bring about renewal. Silence for them means only the recognition that they have been abandoned... How can people find the strength to be happy if they are so terrified of silence?

The fewer desires you have, the happier you will be. Having the right information (truth) leads to contentment. Having the right understanding of the self, our purpose, our origins and our true relationships should free us from the cycles of boom and bust and lead society to that ultimate happiness.

Saturday, 15 June 2013

"Have you ever leaned into a man's loving guidance? Have you relinquished control and allowed your sweetly surrendered heart to flow open like the ocean, wild and deep, rather than holding the narrow direction of a functional canal?"

"If you are with a man you don't trust, it is only because you prefer unsurrendered love to surrendering wide open in total trust. It feels safe. You are afraid to let go of control--part of you doesn't trust love's command--so you have chosen a man who doesn't demand your surrender with his depth of integrity. If you did trust the command of love, you would only settle for a deep man capable of opening you more deeply than you could instruct him."

When gold is in the round, it is bright. If you put gold into a hot furnace, it is bright. After being in the furnace, gold is still bright.

Before it went into the furnace it could not be made to make anything. Also, when in the furnace it could not be used. But after it comes out of the furnace, we can use it to make many things: a ring, earrings or a hair pin.

What is the furnace? The furnace is the paramitas, giving, morality, patience, practice, meditation and wisdom.

Raman used to give a technique to his disciples: they were just to enquire, “Who am I?” In Tibet they use a similar technique, but better than Raman’s. They don’t ask, “Who am I?” They ask, “Where am I?” ― because the who can create a problem. When you enquire, “Who am I?” you take it for granted that you are; the only question is to know who you are. You have presupposed that you are. That is not contested. It is taken for granted that you are. Now the only question is who you are. Only the identity is to be known, the face is to be recognized, but it is there ― unrecognized it is there.

The Tibetan method is still deeper. They say to be silent and then search within for where you are. Go on in the inner space, move to every point and ask, “Where am I?” You will not find it anywhere. And the more you seek, the more it will not be there. And asking “Who am I?” or “Where am I?” a moment comes when you come to a point where you are, but no I ― a simple existence has happened to you. But it will happen only when thoughts are not yours. That is a deeper realm – “I-ness.”

We never feel it. We go on saying I. The word I is used continuously ― the most used word is I ― but you have no feeling. What do you mean by I? When you say I, what do you mean? What is connoted through this word? What is expressed? I can make a gesture. Then I can say, “I mean this.” I can show my body – “I mean this.” But then it can be asked, “Do you mean your hand? Do you mean your leg? Do you mean your stomach?” Then I will have to deny, I will have to say no. Then the whole body will be denied. Then what do you mean when you say I? Do you mean your head? Deep down, whenever you say I, it is a very vague feeling, and the vague feeling is of your thoughts.

Established in feeling, cut from thoughts, face I-ness, and as you face it, you find that it exists not. It was only a useful word, a linguistic symbol ― necessary, but not real. Even a Buddha has to use it, even after his enlightenment. It is just a linguistic device. But when a Buddha says I, he never means I, because there is no one.

When you face this “I-ness” it will disappear. Fear can grip you at this moment, you can be scared. And it happens to many who move in such techniques deeply that they become so afraid that they run out of it. So remember this: when you feel and face your “I-ness” you will be in the same situation as you will be when you die ― the same. Because I is disappearing, and you feel death is occurring to you. You will have a sinking sensation, you will feel you are sinking down and down. And if you get afraid, you will come out again and you will cling to thoughts because those thoughts will be helpful. Those clouds will be there: you can cling to them, and then the fear will leave you.

Remember, this fear is very good, a very hopeful sign. It shows that now you are going deep ― and death is the deepest point. If you can go into death you will become deathless, because one who goes into death cannot die. Then death is also just around; never in the center, just on the periphery. When “I-ness” disappears you are just like death. The old is no more and the new has come into being.

This consciousness which will come out is absolutely new, uncontaminated, young, virgin. The old is no more ― and the old has not even touched it. That “I-ness” disappears, and you are in your pristine virginity, in your absolute freshness. The deepest layer of being has been touched.

Beyond the beauty of external forms, there is more here: something that cannot be named, something ineffable, some deep, inner, holy essence. Whenever and wherever there is beauty, this inner essence shines through somehow. It only reveals itself to you when you are present.

Monday, 10 June 2013

Just a little alertness...to devote oneself to creativity, to love, to sensitivity, and to make this small life just a series of songs — that you dance in your life and that your death will be your crescendo of dance; that you live totally and you die totally, with no complaint...with gratitude, with thankfulness to existence.

It’s easy, and very powerful, to be kind and courteous to those who are kind and courteous to you. Yet to experience the full power of your sincere courtesy and kindness, offer them to people who are careless and rude to you.

Rudeness is nearly impossible to maintain when it is met with courtesy. Carelessness and negativity will wither in the bright light of kindness and true forgiveness.

Sure, it is difficult to bring yourself to forgive those who are hurtful to you. But the thing is, forgiveness gives you the upper hand.

The way to stop the hurt is by refusing to participate in it. To effectively help yourself, offer genuine kindness to others.

By no means should you tolerate continued abuse. Yet there is no good reason to perpetuate that abuse.

Be the one who is strong, who stops the negativity. Put the power of kindness, courtesy and forgiveness to work for you and your world.

The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the physical, material, and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves "inside the skin" of the other. We "go inside" their body, feelings, and mental formations, and witness for ourselves their suffering. Shallow observation as an outsider is not enough to see their suffering. We must become one with the subject of our observation. When we are in contact with another's suffering, a feeling of compassion is born in us. Compassion means, literally, "to suffer with."

Love is the capacity to take care, to protect, to nourish. If you are not capable of generating that kind of energy toward yourself- if you are not capable of taking care of yourself, of nourishing yourself, of protecting yourself- it is very difficult to take care of another person. In the Buddhist teaching, it's clear that to love oneself is the foundation of the love of other people. Love is a practice. Love is truly a practice.

You once suggested to me that I keep my energy inside and bring it to my Hara, my lower belly. Since doing this, I notice that my Hara has become like a mirror for all my feelings.

I feel that behind this small suggestion of yours lies more than I can imagine. Could you please comment?

The hara is the center from where a life leaves the body. It is the center of death. The word hara is Japanese; that’s why in Japan, suicide is called hara-kiri. The center is just two inches below the navel. It is very important, and almost everybody in the world has felt it. But only in Japan have they gone deeper into its implications.

Even the people in India who had worked tremendously hard on centers, had not considered the Hara. The reason for their missing it was because they had never considered death to be of any significance. Your soul never dies, so why bother about a center that functions only as a door for energies to get out, and to enter into another body? They worked from sex, which is the life center. They have worked on seven centers, but the Hara is not even mentioned in any Indian scriptures.

The people who worked hardest on the centers for thousands of years have not mentioned the Hara, and this cannot be just a coincidence. The reason was that they never took death seriously. These seven centers are life centers, and each center is of a higher life. The seventh is the highest center of life, when you are almost a god.

The Hara is very close to the sex center. If you don’t rise towards higher centers, towards the seventh center which is in your head, and if you remain for your whole life at the sex center, then just by the side of the sex center is the Hara, and when then life ends, the Hara will be the center from where your life will move out of the body.

Why did I tell you this? You were very energetic, but not aware of any higher centers; your whole energy was at the sex center, and you were overflowing. Energy overflowing at the sex center is dangerous, because it can start releasing from the Hara. And if it starts releasing from the Hara, then to take it upwards becomes more difficult. So I had told you to keep your energy in, and not to be so expressive: Hold it in! I simply wanted the Hara center, which was opening and which could have been very dangerous, to be completely closed.

You followed it, and you have become a totally different person. Now when I see you, I cannot believe the expressiveness that I had seen at first. Now you are centered and your energy is moving in the right direction of the higher centers. It is almost at the fourth center, which is the center of love and which is a very balancing center. There are three centers below it, and three centers above it.

Once a person is at the center of love, there is very rarely a possibility for him to fall back down, because he has tasted something of the heights. Now valleys will be very dark, ugly; he has seen sunlit peaks, not very high, but still high; now his whole desire will be.... And that is the trouble with all lovers: they want more love, because they don’t understand that the real desire is not for more love but for something more than love. Their language ends with love; they don’t know any way that is higher than love, and love does not satisfy. On the contrary, the more you love the more thirsty you become.

At the fourth center, of love, one feels a tremendous satisfaction only when energy starts moving to the fifth center. The fifth center is in your throat, and the sixth center is your third eye. The seventh center, the sahastrara, is on the top of your head. All these centers have different expressions and different experiences.

When love moves to the fifth center then whatever talents you have, any creative dimension, is possible for you. This is the center of creativity. It is not only for songs, not only for music; it is for all creativity.

The sixth center, which we call the third eye, is between the two eyes. This gives you a clarity, a vision of all your past lives, and of all the future possibilities. Once your energy has reached your third eye, then you are so close to enlightenment that something of enlightenment starts showing. It radiates from the man of the third eye, and he starts feeling a pull towards the seventh center.

Because of these seven centers, India never bothered about the Hara. The Hara is not in the line; it is just by the side of the sex center. The sex center is the life center, and the Hara is the death center. Too much excitement, too much uncenteredness, too much throwing your energy all over the place is dangerous, because it takes your energy towards the Hara. And once the route is created, it becomes more difficult to move it upwards. The Hara is parallel to the sex center, so the energy can move very easily.

The Hara should be kept closed. That’s why I told you to be more centered, to keep your feelings inside, and to bring the energy to your Hara. If you can keep your Hara consciously controlling your energies, it does not allow them to go out. You start feeling a tremendous gravity, a stability, a centeredness, which is a basic necessity for the energy to move upwards.

Your Hara center has so much energy that, if it is rightly directed, enlightenment is not a faraway place.

So these two are my suggestions: keep yourself as centered as possible. Don’t get moved by small things: somebody is angry, somebody insults you, and you think about it for hours. Your whole night is disturbed because somebody said something.... If the Hara can hold more energy, then naturally that much more energy starts rising upwards. There is only a certain capacity in the Hara, and every energy that moves upwards moves through the Hara; but the Hara should just be closed.

So one thing is that the Hara should be closed.

The second thing is that you should always work for higher centers. For example, if you feel angry too often you should meditate more on anger, so that anger disappears and its energy becomes compassion. If you are a man who hates everything, then you should concentrate on hate; meditate on hate, and the same energy becomes love.

Go on moving upwards, think always of higher ladders, so that you can reach to the highest point of your being. And there should be no leakage from the Hara center.

Energy should not be allowed through the Hara. A person whose energy starts through the Hara you can very easily detect. For example, there are people with whom you will feel suffocated, with whom you will feel as if they are sucking your energy. You will find that, after they are gone, you feel at ease and relaxed, although they were not doing anything wrong to you.

You will find just the opposite kind of people also, whose meeting you makes you joyful, healthier. If you were sad, your sadness disappears; if you were angry, your anger disappears. These are the people whose energy is moving to higher centers. Their energy affects your energy. We are affecting each other continually. And the man who is conscious, chooses friends and company which raises his energy higher.

One point is very clear. There are people who suck you, avoid them! It is better to be clear about it, say goodbye to them. There is no need to suffer, because they are dangerous; they can open your Hara too. Their Hara is open, that’s why they create such a sucking feeling in you.

Psychology has not taken note of it yet, but it is of great importance that psychologically sick people should not be put together. And that is what is being done all over the world. Psychologically sick people are put into psychiatric institutes together. They are already psychologically sick, and you are putting them in a company which will drag their energy even lower.

Even the doctors who work with psychologically sick people have given enough indication of it. More psychoanalysts commit suicide than any other profession, more psychoanalysts go mad than any other profession. And every psychoanalyst once in a while needs to be treated by some other psychoanalyst. What happens to these poor people? Surrounded by psychologically sick people, they are continually sucked, and they don’t have any idea how to close their Haras.

There are methods, techniques to close the Hara, just as there are methods for meditation, to move the energy upwards. The best and simplest method is: try to remain as centered in your life as possible. People cannot even sit silently, they will be changing their position. They cannot lie down silently, the whole night they will be turning and tossing. This is just unrest, a deep restlessness in their souls. One should learn restfulness. And in these small things, the hara stays closed. Particularly psychologists should be trained. Also, psychologically sick people should not be put together.

You have done well. Just continue whatever you are doing, accumulating your energy in yourself. The accumulation of energy automatically makes it go higher. And as it reaches higher you will feel more peaceful, more loving, more joyful, more sharing, more compassionate, more creative. The day is not faraway when you will feel full of light, and the feeling of coming back home.

No parents can think of their children to remain unhappy. They want them to be happy — just their thinking is wrong. They think if they become doctors, if they become professors, engineers, scientists — then they will be happy. They don´t know. They can only be happy if they become what they have come to become. They can only become the seed that they are carrying within themselves.

You always have a choice but you forget that you have it. Do you remember the energy and enthusiasm you had on the first day of your first job? You consciously chose to do the work you had gladly accepted to do. But then you gradually fell asleep to the choice you made, and the day became "I have to" go to work, instead of "I want to" go to work. You forgot to see all the opportunities which come with work - opportunities like learning, nourishing and being nourished by others, developing new relationships, expanding your personal capacity. Instead you decided it was just something that you had to do to 'get the money'. This is why most people are sleep-walking through their lives, and they don't know it. The solution, choose your work every day, put the energy of love into your relationships...every day, even if you don't particularly like your job or the people around you. And you'll be amazed at how your life transforms. When you choose to put love into what you do, the universe will move heaven and hell to let you do what you love.